


Tale of Tail

by fairygyeom



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-08-02 00:28:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16294847
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairygyeom/pseuds/fairygyeom
Summary: Youngjae found something by the beach.





	Tale of Tail

Choi Youngjae ties his boat with a frown. He didn’t get any fishes again. Even though it’s just a hobby his Jaebeom-hyung introduced to him, he doesn’t want the older disappointed or thinking he’s not having fun. In fact, being at the sea makes Youngjae happy. He’s scared of large bodies of water, but if he’s on top of it, safe on a boat, he can appreciate how beautiful the sky above is and the corals and marine creatures beneath him.

“Youngjae, I’ll go home now and give these to my mom. What about you?” Jaebeom asks. He has a bag full of fishes. His mom would be proud.

Youngjae pouts. What about his mom? He needs to go home with  _something_. “I’ll stay here for a while, hyung. The breeze is great.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later,” Jaebeom bids before walking away from the seaside.

Youngjae takes a deep breath. He can hear the sea gulls flying above and the sound of waves crashing. It is indeed relaxing. He needs to think of something to bring back to his mother though. Youngjae looks down at the pure white sand.

A big wave makes water reach his feet. Youngjae steps back, afraid he will also wet his trousers. But something washed by the sea to his direction takes his attention.

A shell. Seashell.

Right. He can collect seashells. His mom will love it. And he can give some to his nephews too. He picks up the shell by his feet and put it on his ears. There goes the sound of the waves. It’s magical how it can be trapped on such a small thing.

Youngjae starts walking, in search for more shells. He picks up every interesting thing he encounters, this equating to weirdly shaped pebbles. He finds a couple more shells but they are not as big as the first one. Soon enough, Youngjae reaches the end of the beach. There is a rock formation that stops him from walking further.

He’s already three steps back to where he came from when he heard it. A melody. Someone is singing from behind the rocks. Youngjae has never wandered that far so he’s not sure how someone can possibly be singing there. It sounds like a girl. A girl with amazing voice.

Youngjae doesn’t know what to do. He’s curious of who owns the voice but from the way the rocks are formed, he can’t even try to climb.

So he opens his mouth to harmonise with her. Youngjae prides himself for having a melodious voice.

The singing stops. Youngjae wonders if he scared the girl away. But then she sings again, louder and clearer this time, as if she wants to be sure that Youngjae will answer.

He does. And the voice falters again. He waits for it to continue but instead, he finds a head slowly emerging from behind the rocks.

It’s indeed a girl. A beautiful one at that. Her hair is long and thick, covering her upper body. She has a bright set of eyes, making Youngjae stare. He almost doesn’t notice the shiny scales on the side if her face.

“It’s a Legged!” she exclaims in excitement, pointing at Youngjae as if she just found a rare creature.

Youngjae is as surprised as her. “You’re a mermaid!”

“I am!”

They share an amused expression. Youngjae doesn’t know what to ask for. It’s obvious that mermaids are real; one is right in front of him. But is she supposed to? What if she realises that she’s not and she suddenly goes back to the water? Youngjae wants to get to know her more.

“Legged, why do you know my song? Are you my prince?”

Youngjae blinks. Is he… her prince? He didn’t know the song. He just wanted to sing along with her.

“Are you here to give me legs?”

That’s when Youngjae steps back. “What?”

“We were told that if someone responds to our singing, we’ll get legs and live here on land. Will you give me legs, Legged? I would really like to try them on!”

“What? No!” Youngjae immediately defends. “You’re not getting my legs!”

The mermaid frowns. She’s almost close to crying. “But… I want to have legs. Everyone of my friends already have theirs.”

Youngjae doesn’t want to imagine how her friends could have gotten their legs. It will make him solve the cases of drowning people from the past. No, he needs to focus at the present. This mermaid seems to be innocent. Maybe he can talk her out of it.

“I don’t think I understand all this leg thing,” Youngjae starts. “First of all, my name is not Legged. I’m Youngjae.”

“Youngjae,” she repeats. “Youngjae the Legged.”

“No, no. I’m Youngjae. I’m a human.”

“Youngjae the human.”

“Just call me Youngjae. You wouldn’t want me calling you The Mermaid, would you?”

She ponders. “It’s fine. I am a mermaid anyway.”

Youngjae sighs at her stubborness. “Okay. You’re a mermaid and I’m human. That’s clear. But what you said about getting my legs is not acceptable at all. These are mine. Why would you steal them from me?”

“No, I wouldn’t steal them. You just need to kiss me then I’ll get legs of my own!”

Youngjae opens his mouth to protest. But come to think of it, it’s not a bad deal. He’ll be helping a sweet girl get her dream with a mere kiss. “You mean, you won’t cut my legs off and attach it to your body?”

“No!” She moves to reveal her blue tail. “I’ll die if I cut off my tail and replace it with legs by myself. According to the tales, my legs will appear on their own once I kiss my prince.”

“How do you know I’m your prince though?”

She clears her throat and repeats the melody Youngjae heard earlier. “Only a mermaid’s prince can hear her song. You heard me, didn’t you? You sang with me.”

Youngjae nods. “I did. But what happened to the people who kissed your friends? Didn’t they… die? Would I die?”

The mermaid bites her lips guiltily. “Well, it was their fault. They kissed my friends in the middle of the ocean so when the tranformation occured, they get pulled to the water.”

“Why didn’t your friend save them then?”

“The mermaids turned to a Legged–I mean, a human. They didn’t know how to use their legs yet so even they were in the danger to die. Some of them did. That’s why I came here on the land to at least lessen the risk.”

Youngjae accepts the explanation. But he isn’t fully sure about this yet. “Okay, here’s the deal. I will kiss you and give you legs but not here where the sea can reach me.”

“Then where, Youngjae?”

Youngjae looks around. The beach is isolated, at least. “How long can you stay out of the water?”

¤¤¤

“Youngjae, you have to tell me something before taking me to the bathroom. I’m really getting creeped out,” Jaebeom says but still follows Youngjae’s lead.

Youngjae doesn’t want to tell him anything because he might back out. He can just show it to Jaebeom and reject every doubt.

“Jaebeom-hyung, please don’t scare her, okay?” Youngjae’s only reminder.

“Her? Youngjae, why would you have a girl here–”

Youngjae pulls the curtains to reveal the mermaid. She’s playing with the bubbles Youngjae filled the tub with in order to cover her body.

“Youngjae, you brought another Legged!” she exclaims.

“Who is she?!” Jaebeom turns to Youngjae sharply. “Why do you have a girl on your bathtub, Choi Youngjae?!”

“I found her at the beach,” Youngjae starts to explain simply.

“You found it on the beach? You know, when most people take a walk on the beach, they pick up seashells,” JB says, his voice dropping to a whisper as the mermaid casually splashes the bubbles with her tail. “It’s a freaking mermaid!”

“I know,” Youngjae tries to calm him. “She just wants to experience having legs. I told you about this so you can be a witness to her transformation. It can be fatal so we needed someone strong enough to protect us.”

“Why the hell would I protect that?! I don’t even know where it came from?!”

Youngjae sighs as the mermaid pouts. “Hyung, no. You must protect me. I’m the one who could be taken by the water or something like that.”

JB looks at the mermaid in disgust. “How dare you endanger Youngjae?! What is this grand dream you have that would make him risk his life for you?”

She looks at Youngjae guiltily. “I… want to try wearing socks.”

Youngjae and JB stare at her, waiting for her to say it’s a joke.

It’s not.

“Youngjae, let’s throw her back to the sea,” JB says without a hint of emotion.

“Hey!” the mermaid complains.

“Hyung, please consider–”

“No,” JB says with finality. “Say goodbye to her now, Youngjae.”

“Wait,” Youngjae gestures for JB to halt his movements. He swiftly runs to his room and gets something. He manages to go back to the bathroom while JB is still glaring at the poor mermaid. “Here. I’ll give you my socks!”

The mermaid’s eyes widen. Youngjae is handing her a pair of bumblebee socks, yellow and black stripes. “It’s beautiful.”

“You can wear it on your hand,” Youngjae suggests. “At least your dream will come true.”

The mermaid’s heart almost burst in appreciation. Without much thought, she pushes herself off the tub, enough to reach Youngjae’s cheek. “Thank you!”

Jaebeom’s jaw drops as Youngjae puts a hand on his cheek. Right where the mermaid kissed him.

The mermaid puts the socks on her hands and it reaches her arms. She giggles triumphantly. “You, Legged who is not Youngjae. You can take me back to the sea now. I already have my dream!”

But Jaebeom shakes his head. He points at the mermaid’s lower body. “You won’t survive in the sea anymore. You’ve got your legs.”

She lifts a foot off the bubbles. She turns to Youngjae who is in awe as her. “You gave me legs!”

Youngjae still can’t believe it. There wasn’t any major sparks and smokes during the transformation. He starts to wonder what really caused the death of the poor people who kissed mermaids.

“Now, my prince, I’m afraid you and your friend would have to die,” the mermaid says, her sweet voice turning to low and threatening. Youngjae and JB take a step back. What’s happening? “After all, no one must know that we exist.” She produces a dagger of sharp rock from her thick hair. “You Leggeds are all foolish creatures. Thanks for the help.”


End file.
